We can beat any team at home - Mushfiqur

Bangladesh have not lost a bilateral ODI series at home since 2011, and captain Mushfiqur Rahim believes that the trend can continue in the three-match series against Sri Lanka.

The last time they lost at home in their favoured format was to Pakistan more than two years ago, with victories coming against West Indies in late 2012 and New Zealand last year, as well as pushing Pakistan in the Asia Cup final in 2012.

After a good result against New Zealand in October and November last year, Bangladesh were derailed by a crushing defeat in the first Test against Sri Lanka last month. They bounced back by drawing the second Test match, and then again they lost the two Twenty20s in Chittagong, both off the last ball of the game.

The drawn Test match saw a batting resurrection, mainly through Mominul Haque's perseverance. There was a mix of both batting and bowling improvement in the Twenty20s, and will give them confidence for the rest of the series.

"We were not consistent in Tests and T20s but in our home conditions, our line-up is capable of beating any team on our day," Mushfiqur said. "We have played good cricket in the last 18 months so we are confident. But Sri Lanka is a tough side and it will be a hard competition. We are ready for it.

"So far we did lose three matches this year, but were also unlucky not to win two of those. We have plenty of hard cricket ahead in this year. Results-wise, it was disappointing, but we have gradually improved from the first Test. It's just a matter of time."

Bangladesh will however miss the experience of left-arm spinner Abdur Razzak, who is their leading wicket-taker against Sri Lanka with 19.

"We will miss [Abdur Razzak] Raj bhai a lot. Although [Arafat] Sunny bhai has bowled very well in the last two matches, Raj bhai is our most experienced bowler and has the most ODI wickets. I was with him during the last week as he was recovering from the hamstring injury. We want him to be fully fit for the tournaments ahead.

"We have four genuine pacers in the side and have a long time to put together a playing XI. Dew factor might come into play and there was overnight rain on Sunday. We might play three pacers or three spinners, it will depend on the dew factor. We are flexible, we have left-arm spinners, pacers and offspinners. We will wait till tomorrow."

The other hindrance for Bangladesh tomorrow will be that Mushfiqur will not keep wickets. The finger injury he picked up during the second Test forced him to miss the two Twenty20s, and he said Anamul Haque or Shamsur Rahman will be wicketkeeper, at least for the first ODI.

"I don't have much pain when I bat. But because it's in the last finger, keeping will be risky. If I get hit there again, I will be out for a long time. The team management thinks I can do with the bat. We have enough keepers in the side like [Shamsur Rahman] Shuvo and [Anamul Haque] Bijoy. One of them will keep tomorrow."

Despite missing Razzak and Muhfiqur' keeping skills, Bangladesh will enter the series with plenty of confidence, given their solid recent record in home ODIs.